THE council have struck a deal with BT which will see Glasgow become the first Scottish city to offer the service with around 50 to 80 wireless access points set to be installed.

FREE public Wifi will be available in a city's streets and public spaces after its council awarded a wireless concession to BT in what it says is a Scottish first.

The company will deliver the Wifi infrastructure, with 50-80 wireless access points installed in high footfall areas and transport hubs around Glasgow city centre and parts of the east end.

The first phase of the urban wireless programme will be delivered ahead of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and the next phase will be rolled out towards early 2015, extending coverage more widely throughout the city.

There will be free 24-hour access to the network for the first six months and after that there will be free access for 30 minutes per day per handset. Access to some sites, including Glasgow City Council's website (http://www.glasgow.gov.uk), will remain free permanently.

Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: "Delivering a free Wifi network is a key priority of the council and we are delighted to award the Urban Wireless supplier concession to BT.

"This is a historic day, a first for any Scottish city and it is great to see Glasgow living up to its innovative tradition.

"Glaswegians and our visitors will soon be able to access multimedia information on the city, its events, businesses and services on their devices.

"This network will play a key role in Glasgow's transition to becoming a digitally connected, smart city, with all the economic and social benefits that brings."

The BT contract is for eight years with an option to extend for another two.

The Urban Wireless programme is part of the city council's Digital Glasgow roadmap published in January 2014, which aims to place Glasgow as a world-leading digital city by 2017, supporting economic and social regeneration.

Glasgow's city wireless delivery is based on a concession model, meaning that access to the wireless network in the city comes through the lease of council-owned street furniture and property, with the council providing a license to allow a network operator to build a wireless network.

This model means that the council does not have to make any investment, with the network being designed, built and operated by the private sector.

It said that any subsequent support, maintenance, upgrading and monitoring will come at no cost to the council.